The stowaway child
by Spirits Death Rain
Summary: After the crew of serenity discover a young girl on board, Malcolm Reynolds takes it upon himself to train the child in their field of work. The crew quickly discover how strong and reliable she will become. in the mean time she and River have something in common. While River was taken and experimented on the child was born the way she. Soon Malcolm forms a bond with her.
1. Erza's Devastation

Firefly was slowly flying onto the surface of Erza. "So, here's the plan. We pick up the goods. We fly south of the planet for three days, where the buyer will pay us for our high standard delivery service. Are there any questions?" Mal asked. "How much are they paying us?" Jayne asked. "Enough to retire" Zoe said. Everybody around the table were amazed and excited. Everybody smiled and started to raise their glasses. "Why this called for a celebration!" Hoban shouted.

"hang on, shouldn't we wait until we finished the job first. I mean we have had jobs that have gone south?" Kaylee asked. Mal smiled and walked over behind her chair as he said "this is a girl with the screws screwed in her head." "Well, I am a mechanic" she smiled, looking up at him. He kissed her head as he said. "We should arrive in the next few minutes, so station's everyone." The crew ran into action.

Hoban, Zoe and Mal ran into the control room. Mal grabbed the microphone and announced "ladies and gentlemen, and Jayne. Please buckle up or have fun with the bruises you will endure." The ship spent two minute travelling into Erza's atmosphere. "Why is it always so rough when we land on planets!" Mal shouted. "Its just the glory of our ship Mal" Hoban shouted, trying to steady her.

Once the ship landed, everybody unbuckled and climbed onto their flying mule. "So, we are in the city centre and should be back within the hour" Mal announced. "Think again" Hoban shouted from above the stars. Everybody looked up at him. "What, why honey?" Zoe asked. "Have you seen the state of the city!" he walked over and opened up the deck doors. The crew were shock by what welcomed them.

There was nothing but smoke fire and rubble. The sky was dark and red. The crew walked out of their ship onto the devastated planet. "What happened here?" Kaylee asked. "War." Everybody turned back to see River and Simon, behind her. "War, you mean the alliance?" Zoe asked. "This was more than a war. It was genocide" Mal said.

Simon and River walked off the ship and stared out to the view. "Are there any survivors?" Kaylee asked. "Who cares. We're not retiring anymore" Jayne moaned. Everybody stared at him. "Are we?" he asked, hopeful. "Not anymore. I guess this didn't happen too long ago. We should get going" Mal said, walking back onto the ship. The crew followed him and got ready to take off.

"Well, that was just crap" Zoe said. "What do you think happened? The alliance? Civil war?" Zoe wondered. "Who knows. There are no survivors and I think its best if we get the hell of this rock" Mal said, closing the back.

Wash flew the ship off the planet. He set course for the centre planet Bellerophon for another job. "Right, it's a two day flight, so we have time to kill" he announced, when he entered the kitchen for dinner. No one spoke. They all wanted to ask the same question. What the hell happened on Erza? But the tension in the room was about to get a lot worse.

"Someone is on our ship!" River said, looking all around her. "What?!" Mal shouted. "Oh, she's scared" she continued. "River where is she?" Simon asked. She was looking at the ceiling as she said "In the air vents!" she then jumped and crawled in the air vents herself. "Spread out around the ship, find this women now!" Mal ordered.

River crawled through the vents and found a black figure speeding through. "She is here!" River shouted. Jayne was below the vents. He shot his gun in the vents. "Missed!" he heard river shout. "I don't ever miss" he grunted. He was suddenly knocked down. "What the hell?!" he looked up to the figure, running around the corner.

"She's going to the engine room!" he shouted, for the crew. Kaylee slowly picked up a large spanner and walked around the engine room. She suddenly heard footsteps in the vents. "River is that you?" she asked. Suddenly a black blur, shot from the air vent and into the control room. Kaylee tried to hit the women, but she was too fast and ended up hitting the engine and causing it to spark. "Captain!" she shouted, devastated she damaged her ship. "You have to get her!"

Mal was in serenity's storage deck. He walked down the stairs with his gun ready. He heard knocking on the vents. "River?" he asked. She jumped down next to him. "Where is she, little one?"

River looked around. She then pointed to the corner, next to controls. He couldn't see her, but slowly walked down there. "Alright. I don't do stowaways on my ship. If you try anything, this bullet will be in your brain" he said. He turned the corner and pointed his gun at her.

He stopped stunned, when he didn't see a woman in the corner. Instead he saw a small child, curled and pushing herself into the corner. Her eyes were red from crying. She was covered in dirt and sweat. The crew walked into sight. Looking down at this young girl.


	2. Karoshi Lilth

Mal put his gun away and knelt down to her. "How old is she?" he asked River. "Nine years two months and three weeks, two days, one hour and seventeen seconds" she replied.

He nodded as he stared the girl. "Ok, you sneaked onto my ship" he started. He leaned forward as he whispered, "I'm very impressed, by the way for your age."

She didn't show any sign of laughing, but she stopped shaking and moving. She stared at him, like she was trying to read him. "What your name sweetie?" Kaylee asked, kneeling down. The girl looked at her not answering. Kaylee slowly got closer to her as she said "it's ok honey. None of us are going to hurt you, we want to help you."

The child then looked back at Mal as she said "survivor" her voice was croaked and sore. Almost like she was out of breath. Mal stared at her and asked "What?" "I survived the devastation. As did you."

Mal looked up at Zoe. They both shared the same expression of concern, wonder and intrigue into the girl. He then looked at River. She seemed to be excited from the smile on her face. "She's unique" she said. The girl looked at her as she said "as are you." Simon stepped next to River as he asked "hang on. Are you two similar?" "No, we are not. She is so much more special" she smiled.

Everybody then looked at the small child. "So, what is your name?" he asked, gently. She took a few deep breathes before she answered "Karoshi. Karoshi Lilth." "OK well it's nice to meet you Karoshi. I would like to know how you got on my ship?" he said. "Are you going to shoot me?" Karoshi asked, staring at his gun. "No, I won't" he promised. "I might though if you don't teach me to be sneaky like you" Jayne said. Everybody stared at him, before she said "I don't like you."

"Ok kiddo, how did you get on my ship?" Mal asked. She started shaking as she explained "I was running away. Running for a long time. Saw your ship land, jumped up on it and snuck in, while you all had your backs facing it." "Wash!" Mal said. "Yes captain?" he asked, stepping forward. "Keep our course on track. Zoe go help him. Simon, take your sister to your rooms, enjoy the night. Kaylee go work on the engine. Shepperd, go pray. Jayne, go away."

Jayne looked frustrated and grunted as he walked away. When everyone was gone, Mal looked up to see Inara looked down from the stares. She looked concerned for the child. Karoshi looked up to see her. "Your very pretty" she said. Inara smiled in shock and tried not to laugh as she said "thank you sweaty. So are you."

Karoshi looked back to Mal. He stared at her as he noticed, she seemed to have an interest in him. "Ok, let's get you washed up" he said, offering her his hands. She stared at them for a while not knowing what to do. "I'm not going to hurt you. No one here will ever hurt you. I will not let anyone ever hurt you" he said, trying to gain her trust. "you promise" she sniffed, trying not to cry.

Mal smirked as he leaned forward and said "hey, my name is Malcom Reynolds. I run this ship, I got a crew who are like family. I've done a lot of thing and keeping promises is absolutely one of them. I promise to protect you, as do my crew." This convinced the small child, as she took his hand and stood up with him.

As they walked to the stairs he noticed, she had a black long coat on. "I like your coat" he said. She looked up at him as she said "really?" He nodded as he explained "oh yeah. I've got a nice brown one." "Oh yeah?" she smiled, nervously. "Yep, mine cost an arm and leg. How'd you get yours?" he asked. She smirked as she said "I stole it." Mal laughed as he said "I like your style kid."


	3. What She Wants

Later on, Inara walked through the kitchen with Karoshi's clothes newly clean. "They took three hours to get that smell out of them" she said, as she passed Mal and the shepherd. "It's alright, she's still in the shower" Mal said. "Yeah using up all our damn hot water too" Jayne said as he walked in. "still hasn't beaten your record though" Mal said. The Shepherd laughed. "I'll go give them to her" Inara said.

"So what do we do with the brat then?" Jayne asked. "We keep her as one of the crew" Mal answered. Jayne laughed as he said "you gotta be kidding!" Mal glared at him. "You series?! Keep a kid running around here and cut our shares ang give it to her?" Jayne spat. "No. she will earn her keep here on my ship. You know cleaning around here sometimes. Lending a hand to the crew when needed and possible we can train her."  
The shepherd put his bible down and asked "train her. What do you mean by that?" "She and River clearly have a connection. She even said the child was special. However, I don't think this one will go crazy on us, so let's train her and make her be of use to us" he explained. "She's not an object, sir. Quite frankly we should try and figure out what this child wants."

"I don't know." They all turned around to see Karoshi, all cleaned up and wearing her clean clothes and black coat. "I um… I got just off that planet. I don't know what I want right now. But I was wondering, just until I figure it out, if I can stay with you?" she asked, holding her hands in front of her.

Kaylee walked in and smiled at her. "Hey" she smiled. Mal stood up and said "you are more than welcome on this ship. But you will work and earn your stay here. Is that understood?" "What would my duties be?" she asked, curious. "Well cleaning up around the ship when we ask. Being helpful when we need, so probable helping Kaylee out in the engine room as she doesn't know what she's doing most of the time."

"Hey" Kaylee laughed, hitting Mal's arm. Karoshi smiled and laughed. "I'm sure you're an excellent mechanic" she laughed. "I will give you until we reach the planet Bellerophon to make up your mind if you want to stay with us or not. If not, we'll take you to somewhere you will be taken care of. Is that fair?" he asked, holding out his hand.

Karoshi didn't take his hand. She walked over and hugged him tightly. "Oh ok" he said, shocked from the sudden hug. He just patted her shoulder, as he looked behind him to see the crew smiling cutely at him. "Ok kid, let me go." She stood back and looked up at him. "So, your first orders, come at sit with us and have dinner" he said. She looked at the crew and saw Zoe pat a chair, next to her. She smiled as she walked over and sat down. Malcom couldn't help but stare at the child at how she smiled and interacted with the crew. He gave a small laugh when she bravely stole two rolls off of Jayne's plate.


	4. Mal's Promise

"Mum! Mum, I'm home." 12 year old Malcom shouted, as he walked into a small wooden hut. A fire was lit and a late twenties women, wearing farmers skirt and a brown cardigan was standing there. Her long brown hair was braided. She was stirring a soup that was being heated above the fire. "Welcome home sweetie" she smiled. Her smile always made him feel at home.

"Dinner is just about ready" she said. Malcom didn't wait to be asked. He grabbed two bowls and spoons and set the table. He quickly ran outside to get some water from the well. He picked up the heavy bucket and carried it back to his home, where he found his mother pouring soup into their bowls. He never failed to noticed how little his mother had, compared to himself.

He poured his mother a large amount of water into her cup and gave himself one too. He sat down as she put his soup in front of him. She ruffled his hair as she sat down with her soup. "How was your day in the fields?" she asked. "We managed to pull all the crops today and Professor Noobful gave me another lesson on piloting" he said, while eating. "So, you flew a ship today, did you?" she asked.

Malcolm shook his head as he explained "Oh no I was taught how a captain must always beat his crew when they don't do their duties or live up to the captain's expectation. Captains must always be feared and have complete control over his ship."

He stopped chewing when he saw his mother disgusted face. "What is it mum?" he asked, worried. She stood up and walked over to him. "How do feel about captains now?" she asked. "How I... feel?" he asked. She nodded. "Yes, how do you feel about what captains do?"

He stared at the floor for a while, before he looked back up at his mother and answered "well I can understand have complete control and power in their ship. It will be there and the captain will be paying the crew. You can get some slackers in work, but I don't get why you should beat them."

His mother knelt down to his level and placed her hand on his shoulder as she said "you listen to me. No one in a captain's crew should be beaten. A captain for some people is there only role model. Someone they can talk to and feel safe around. Someone to help inspire them to surpass themselves. A captain with their crew and ship, are a family."

"A family?" he asked, curious. "A family" she smiled. "Promise me, when you become a captain of a ship, you be someone who your crew can feel safe around." He smiled as he said "I promise mum."

12 years later...

Malcolm was knelt down at his mother grave. She had just been buried and he came to visit. He was leaving for training for the war in a few minutes. A small tear rolled down his face as he said "Hey mum. I'm leaving soon. I know you don't approve of violence, but I thought this is something I gotta do. I won't let the alliance win."

He looked down at the ground from which she was under and said "I still remember my promise. If I'm ever a captain, I'll be the best captain ever and do it in your love and memory. I miss you already and I love you so much." He rubbed his eyes as he stood up. "I gotta go now. I'll make you proud, I promise."


	5. Mal and Karoshi bonding

Back on Serenity Mal walked down the hall until he found the ladder going into his bedroom. He climbed down and took off his shirt as he walked to his bed. He rubbed his tired eyes and climbed into his bed. He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, before he closed his eyes. He turned on his side, but then felt something moving up his back.

His eyes snapped open as he jumped out of bed. Karoshi jumped up from under the covers, screaming. "What were you doing?!" she screamed. Mal stood wide eyed in shock. "What am I doing? What the hell are you doing in my bedroom in my bed?!" he asked, trying not to shout. "What are you talking about?" she asked, clearly confused.

Mal covered his face with his hands as he breathed deeply. "Ok" he said, showing his face. "I would like to know why you are in my room?" he asked, calmly. "You said find a room that makes you feel at home" she answered. "Ok when I said find that, I meant an empty room. A room all of your own" he said, exaggerating his arms.

Karoshi, suddenly looked embarrassed. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realise. Um... I'll go find a spare room" she said, grabbing her coat and boots. "No..." Mal closed his eyes as he quickly had a think. "You can stay in my room just for tonight. Tomorrow, you can find your own room."

"Ok" Karoshi nodded, standing up. He looked around his room. "I don't think I have a bed for you" he said, scratching his head. "I know" she said. "Be back in a minute" she shouted, as she climbed up the ladder.

Kaylee was in the engine room. She climbed out of her mechanic outfit, as she walked to her hammock. She stretched as she climbed in. She picked up a book called "Legend mechanics." After a few minutes she heard two light nocks. She looked up to see Karoshi, standing by the door. "Oh, hey sweetie, you alright?" she asked. She rubbed her arm still a little nervous around the crew. "Do you have a spare hammock I could borrow until I find something else?" she asked, quietly.

Kaylee smiled as she climbed out and brought out a rolled-up hammock. "Here, keep it. Hammocks are amazing to sleep in anyway." Karoshi smiled as she took it and asked "really?" "Oh yeah" she responded. "I once was able to get into everyone's rooms and hung hammocks. It was hard to get two hung up in Zoe and Wash's room" she laughed. Karoshi smiled also. "How did the captain take it?" she asked, interested. "Captain? Sounds like you're ready to be a member of our crew?" Kaylee asked.

"Tonight, was fun, yes, but it was also a little scary. It was so new and alien" karoshi explained. Kaylee stared at her, wondering what she has had before. Especially if such a simple dinner, was alien to this girl. "Is Jayne always so pig headed and have his head up his ass?" she asked. Kaylee laughed as she said "yes, but we still love him." Karoshi looked unsure as she also said "you will learn to love him too sweetie." "Anyway, I um... I should let you be now" she said. "Thank you for the hammock." "Oh no Karoshi, that's ok. Have a good night." Karoshi walked off, back to Mal's room.

Mal sat up as he saw Karoshi, slide down his ladder. "What have you got there?" he asked. "Hammock" she answered, hanging it up. She climbed in and used her coat as a blanket. They laid in their beds in awkward silence. "Mal?" she asked. "Yeah?" he asked, pulled the covers over his body, ready to sleep. "I never apologized for scaring your crew earlier on" she said, guiltily.

"That's ok. It kept us on our toes" he smirked. "I'll do it again then, maybe" she giggled. Mal smirked too. "Do you mind if I ask a question?" he asked. "Depends on the question" she answered. "Where did you learn to be so stealthy?" he asked. He didn't hear anything from the child for a while.

"I'll answer when I'm ready" she finally answered. Mal looked over to see a small tear running down the side of her face. "I'll be here when you're ready" he said. "Anything else you can do I should know about?" Karoshi hung her arm over the hammock as she turned to face him as she answered "you'll find out along the way." Mal smirked as he said "get some sleep kid. Trust me when I say, you're going to need it." And the lig


End file.
